Corinthians chief on Depay paperwork error, fitness coach exit and window | OneFootball

Next Thursday (25), Corinthians will return from vacation due to the break in the schedule for the World Cup and will report back to CT Dr. Joaquim Grava to continue preparing for the rest of the season, which will include the continuation of the Brazilian Championship—ending in December—and the knockout rounds of the Copa do Brasil and Conmebol Libertadores (round of 16), which will only resume in August.

With that in mind, Corinthians football executive Marcelo Paz gave an interview to Identidade Corinthiana and spoke about the mistake in registering forward Memphis Depay’s contract, explained the departure of fitness coach Guilherme da Costa, and praised president Osmar Stabile. He also addressed the transfer window, which opens on July 20, emphasized his desire to renew with Alvinegro—his contract runs until the end of 2026—and avoided giving a deadline for the regularization of players’ salaries.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Corinthians Agency

Check out all of the football executive’s answers from the interview below:

Mistake in registering Memphis Depay’s contract

“Memphis has an employment contract with Corinthians until July 31. His federation registration was valid until June 20. All that is needed is to extend that federation registration and align it with the employment contract. That only depends on a signature from president Osmar and a signature from Memphis. So he can play for Corinthians until July 31 without a contract renewal. He can return to training and he can play against Remo.”

Progress of negotiations to renew Corinthians’ No. 10

“There is interest in keeping him. I’ve said this a few times already, but I think it’s important to repeat: communication requires frequency. The question I hear most is whether Memphis will renew. But Memphis is playing in the World Cup, a special moment for him. So we mutually understand that he should keep his focus on the competition. At the right time, we will go deeper into the issue of his staying.”

“He knows he will have to reduce the numbers and sign a new contract, different from the current one. He knows that exactly and has made himself available to make that effort. He knows the club intends to keep him. Diniz likes him a lot and is counting on the player. On top of that, he likes Corinthians and is proud to be a Corinthians player.”

Player monitoring

“Within the Cifut department, we have a ‘shadow squad’ by position, with three or four players mapped out, so that in the event of a need, we already have options for possible signings. There are player profiles that would require a transfer fee, and that’s something we won’t have at the moment. But there are players nearing the end of their contracts and players who could come on loan.”

“There are also offers, market situations: ‘Wow, so-and-so is leaving such-and-such team. That wasn’t mapped out anywhere, but the player is interested in joining Corinthians.’ Corinthians is so strong that many players make an effort to be at the club, many big-name players with history. That’s something that over the course of this window, which runs until September, we can use. A lot can still happen.”

Will Corinthians sign players in the transfer window? *The club is currently barred from registering players due to a FIFA transfer ban

“Naturally, we have the desire (to sign players). It would be great if so-and-so could come, but there is a financial issue we need to sort out. How are we going to sign players while owing salaries? We need to bring the players’ salaries up to date, possibly make one or two sales to generate cash flow, and then make signings. We need to be coherent. Corinthians does not have the funds to pay transfer fees. In the window we put together at the start of the year, seven players arrived, and all of them came without transfer costs. Any move that happens in this window will be done that way, because the club is in a financial recovery process, and football is a locomotive that can accelerate that process by having a competitive team at the lowest possible cost.”

How a signing works and an example of the club’s approach in the January 2026 transfer window

“A signing goes through several people within the club, even to get more decisions right and minimize mistakes. Corinthians has a department called CIFUT, with three professionals who map out the entire South American market as well as the foreign one. This year, for example, we brought in Zakaria, a Moroccan who was in China, and Lingard, an Englishman who was playing in Korea. All of this always goes through CIFUT, which gives its opinion and presents a report. Most players are already mapped out by them in some way. They have a catalog of matches and reports. We also seek information beyond what happens on the field: day-to-day situations, conduct, attitude… The coaching staff, naturally, also takes part in the process of bringing in a player and makes its own analyses. Usually, a coach has one or two people on the staff who monitor the market according to demand. On top of that, the process goes through me and also Julio Cesar. In the end, it goes through the president. No player will be signed without the president’s approval. It’s a filter we use in the evaluation process to minimize mistakes.”

Departure of fitness coach Guilherme da Costa to Internacional

“The fitness coach is Wagner Bertelli, head of Corinthians’ physical preparation department. Within a football department, you have eight professionals doing work inside the club. In Guilherme’s case, he left by his own choice. He received an offer from Internacional. Here, he worked more in the gym, doing extremely important, fundamental work alongside Wagner. He left because at Internacional he will have a role more connected to on-field work. So he received the offer and spoke to me very politely. ‘Marcelo, it’s not a financial issue, it’s not an issue with the group, but over there I’ll work in an area more connected to the field.’ So he left the role and we will look for a professional to perform that same function. His departure was his own choice. If he had not received that offer, he would have stayed with us. So one thing has nothing to do with the other (the mistake in Memphis’ recovery).”

Late salaries and his role regarding the behind-the-scenes issue

“I am the go-between for the squad and the presidency. There is a delay this month. The curious thing about Corinthians is that everything happens very quickly. If it’s delayed by two days, everyone already knows. The delay is bad, but worse than the delay is promising a date and not delivering. So we will only promise when we are sure the payment will be made on that date. That’s why I can’t give a date. I haven’t said one even to the squad. The fact that salaries are not up to date is a direct consequence of not selling players at the start of the year. If Corinthians had sold players at the beginning of the season, there would be no delay. But it didn’t, for various reasons. They are choices. Sometimes you choose the sporting side, sometimes the financial side. You keep balancing it out. I won’t give a deadline. The contact is daily. We are not shirking responsibility. We talk to the leaders and explain the situation. President Osmar Stabile is working on this together with the financial department.”

Are there any offers for any Corinthians players right now? + the new reality of player sales

“None (offers). The fans’ doubt is about the players with the most minutes among the starters: Hugo Souza, André Luiz, Breno Bidon, and Matheuzinho. There are no offers for them today. I speak with the president daily and there are no offers at this time. Which is natural, because the market is still slow. The window in Brazil will only open on July 20 and close on September 12. So there is still a lot of time ahead. Football’s attention right now is focused on the World Cup.”

“I think Corinthians needs to create a new reality for sales. It needs to anchor its value at higher levels. That is a process. When I joined Fortaleza in 2018, we made a purchase for R$200,000. It was the biggest purchase in the club’s history. Later, we got to making acquisitions of R$15 million and R$18 million. You keep anchoring it. What is Corinthians’ biggest sale? Is it 18? Then it needs to make a sale for 23, for 25. Then it goes to 28, 30. It’s a process. There’s no point thinking you’re going to go from 18 or 20 to 55 all at once. It’s a process, because that’s how the market works. Corinthians needs to be firm, it needs to solve its financial issues, but there’s no point selling the illusion right now that an offer of 50 million euros is going to show up for one of our talented midfielders or for Yuri. It will be very difficult for that offer to come. The anchor for Corinthians’ value is Moscardo, who was sold for 18 or 20 million euros to PSG.”

Transfer ban and its financial impact in practice

“The situation would be very bad if it turned into a transfer ban, because it would become much more expensive. And it is also very bad for the club to accumulate transfer bans, because that can cause points deductions. So avoiding the punishment was essential. I think, I don’t know off the top of my head, that just in debts related to players this year, Corinthians paid out something around R$250 million. That’s a lot. So Corinthians is still moving. It didn’t add fuel to the debt, it didn’t sign players generating new debts, it paid old debts, but it still has debts to settle. And Martínez’s debt, which generated the current transfer ban, I strongly believe will be paid by the opening of the window, so that we can make some move.”

Praise for president Osmar Stabile

“I was hired by president Osmar (Stabile) and I’m very grateful to him. Over the last 12 years, I’ve been around many Brazilian football executives at CBF events, in the creation of the league, in a series of things… From Palmeiras, São Paulo, Corinthians, Flamengo, Inter, Ceará… And I see in Osmar many qualities of a great executive; I can say that with firsthand knowledge. I’m happy to work with him. He lets me work, he seeks me out, he consults me. I’m grateful because he invited me to be here.”

Do you intend to stay at Corinthians? Contract ends at the end of the year

“Personally, I intend to stay at Corinthians longer; it is my personal and life project. I want to contribute to the club, leave some kind of legacy, and take part in this rebuilding process. But we know it’s an election year, my contract is ending, and I have no control over that. Naturally, we’ll see what happens. I will work for the good of the club and for whatever planning for next year falls to me. I’ve identified with the club, and I’m being treated well by the people, by the fans, and by the people at the club.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.